I feel like Leia hasn't gotten enough attention lately, so we're gonna fix that.
It was bedtime for Leia and I walked into her room to see her playing with her toys. Liv told me about how Leia hasn't been wanting to go to school lately.
"Hey, buddy." She waved and started to clean up.
"I wanna talk to you quickly before lights out."
"Okay." There were tears in her eyes and I wished to make it all better, but I wasn't sure if I could.
"Why don't you wanna go to school?"
"Because of Travis."
"Travis? What about him?"
"He's really mean to me. He pushes me and that's how I got the cut on my leg! And, he says rude words to me. I don't like it very much."
"What kind of rude words?"
"I'm not allowed to say them. He called me a really bad word."
"Can you tell me a letter of that bad word?"
"Daddy, no."
"I wanna help you buttercup. Let me help you. Please? I only want to know the letter of the word."
"N."
************
Trevor Day School (Olivia's Perspective)
I was immensely shocked when Elliot came and told me why Leia was so upset. And now, we were at Leia's school, and having a meeting with the parents of the person who's been bothering Lei. Attempting to figure out why. Trevor Day school has a bit of a diverse population, same with Bella's school (Trinity), which is why I put them there, and yet still here I am having to deal with the racism being projected towards my girls. It's different when it comes from a kid because it's a reflection of their parents. So this should be interesting. A man and a woman, walked into the room, the parents and I wasn't really happy about this whole conversation but it had to happen.
"Olivia Benson."
"Helen Kroeber."
"Mark Kroeber."
"Let's get into why we're here today." The dean said calmly.
"Travis has been making a series of rude remarks towards Leia and other racially diverse students, not only that but pinching and hitting them as well. There have been several reports made, Leia's is just the most prominent at the moment."
"And why is that so?"
"Your son called my daughter a racial slur based on the color of her skin, and that doesn't concern you as a parent?!"
"There's no way Travis could've done that. She has to be lying."
"My daughter doesn't lie. She told my husband the exact same story she told me. And then, she asked me why it was so bad. I shouldn't be having to have those conversations with a five-year-old."
"How does she know it's so bad? Did you tell her about that word?"
"She heard when she was out with me and I told her to never ever let that slip out of her mouth. I didn't plant these ideas into my daughter's head."
"Mrs and Mr.Kroeber, this is a very serious matter."
"We understand that, but this can't be Travis. He isn't like that in the slightest, that isn't how we raised him."
"Are there any family members or friends he tends to stay by?"
"My brother in law. Mark, I've been telling you, he shouldn't be around him. He's probably the one feeding him all of this."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Back in-"
"No, we're not going there."
"Yes, we are. We have to. This is the only way we could properly address this situation."
"Back in high school, my brother in law was a big confederacy fan. Obsessive about all its values. I know your family doesn't think like that Mark, but who the hell knows what got into him. And, you've been going to see him so much lately." I was listening and Helen seemed genuine.
"We need to work together to fix this, it takes a village. We'll all help. I think first things first, some therapy for Travis." I recommended.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because, and I have experience with this, it seems like this behavior is a coping mechanism. He's acting like this to express his negative emotions, and that should be dealt with." At this point I'm the conversation I realized that approaching this with anger was not the best thing to do anymore. We're talking about 5-year-olds, they're still heavily influenced by the world around them, and to help them learn, we needed to protect their innocence with all of our might.
***************
My House (Bella's Perspective)
Jake and I were in the living room working on a big project for class. Mom was standing in the gallery, sipping her tea and watching us work on the poster board.
"You guys are working hard, would you like some nuggets?"
"Yes please!" Ryan hopped into my lap and I gave him a big kiss.
"Sweet boy!" Jake smiled and I smiled back. The energy in the room was kind of interesting. It made me feel a bit weird. Elliot was coming from upstairs as I could see him from up in the dining room. He was getting ready to leave and he came down and greeted Jake.
"Handle this one with care."
"Stop it!" I said with a laugh.
"I will Mr.Stabler." Jake laughed at me and I just continued gluing the pieces of information down. Elliot is so embarrassing!
"Alright, Bella I'm leaving for the afternoon." He gave me a kiss and I waved as he left.
"I think this project is coming along really well."
"Me too." He stuck the last picture in and I gave him a high five. Our presentation on John F. Kennedy was looking amazing!
"You guys are done?"
"Yeah! We're going to hang out for a bit." We started walking upstairs and Mom stopped us before we reached the dining room.
"I don't think that's very appropriate guys, you guys can go in the basement if you'd like. But bedrooms are off-limits for today." For today...okay.
"Alright." We were in the basement together watching a show and talking. Mainly about school.
"Is it true?"
"Is what true?"
"That you liked Axel?"
"Well, yeah at one point. Not anymore."
"Dude practically loves you." I laughed and I asked him a question."
"Since you decided to put me on the spot, who do you like?"
"Well, I'd rather not say."
"Why?"
"I don't think she likes me back." Who is he talking about?
"And then the other girl, the one I really really like. I'm just not so sure. She seems really occupied, I don't wanna bother her."
"What are their names?!"
"I'm not telling you."
"Why?"
"Because!"
"Jake Angelo Romano, you better tell me who they are!"
"Totally won't!"
"Why?" I said while pouting.
"Because you're going to make fun of me!"
"I won't! I promise! I won't!"
"No!"
"No fair, you know the boys that I like."
"Only Axel. Wait- Boys?!"
"Who are they?"
"Well, why should I tell you?!"
"I'll tell if you tell." I put my face directly in front of his and then spoke.
"No."
"You were pressuring me not that long ago!" She hit me with a pillow and one thing led to another, we were having a pillow fight!
"Jake Romano, I hate you!"
"Bella Benson, I hate you too!" She hit me again and I was shocked.
"Jake, your Mom is here!"
"Already?!" We said together.
"Jinx."
****************
8:45 PM (Elliot's Perspective)
Little did Bella know, I was watching a lot longer than she thought I was. I actually saw the pillow fight between the two, I just didn't want to intervene.
"Jake Romano, I hate you!"
It was actually very sweet, and even though I wanted to break it up immediately, I decided to take a different approach.
"You saw them?!"
"Yep. They both like each other, it's so painfully obvious."
"Gosh, I was just hoping it was a small crush."
"Well sorry to break your heart but it isn't."
"I'm waiting for the day she'll want to talk about it with me. I've been waiting for Bella to reach this stage for a while, I think I'm more excited about it than she is. But nothing's really happening right now besides the whole bra debacle with Bella."
"Why are you laughing Elliot?"
"Because you scared her. She was so nervous that she didn't even want to go anywhere near PINK. Even I could've handled that better."
"You're acting as if you could handle it at all. Don't make me remind you-"
"Of what?"
"Soccer balls and Kathleen."
"Alright. Fair point. Moving on?!" Liv laughed at me and turned on the television.
"We both have our moments. We can't always be the best parents."
"Mom? Elliot? Can I come in?"
"Speak of the devil and they shall appear," I whispered.
"Come in sweet pea." Bella stepped in with freshly washed hair and sat on our bed.
"What's up, darling?"
"Hm. Nothing really. I just wanted to talk."
"About what?"
"About anything. I'm home this week. What are we doing?"
"I'm working, so I'm not sure."
"Can't you take a week off?"
"No, I have to work. Elliot's home, you four could all do something."
"Do what?"
"Go to Long Island for the week, relax yourselves."
"Can I bring a friend?"
"Which friend?"
"Can Jake come?!"
"I'm not sure about that."
"Kylie's going to Manchester, Axel's going to North Carolina, Jessica's going to Australia, Hilary's going to Russia, everyone's doing something."
"Bella you have to understand that we can't constantly be vacationing. The wedding alone drained us."
"But they can."
"Because they're at a different place than us financially. You know that."
"But I wanna do something fun!"
"We can make our own fun," I suggested.
"This conversation is boring, I'm going back to my room."
"To do what?"
"Call Jake and Hannah." When she left I nodded.
"Teenagers."